


Barry and the Black Lodge

by dancesontrains



Category: The Flash (TV 2014), Twin Peaks
Genre: Background Barry Allen/Iris West - Freeform, Body Horror, F/M, Horror, Self-Harm
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-09
Updated: 2017-10-31
Packaged: 2019-01-15 07:16:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,979
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12316341
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dancesontrains/pseuds/dancesontrains
Summary: Barry fell asleep.Soon afterwards, he dreamed.(Set in season three for the Flash, and between seasons two and three for Twin Peaks).





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Note the warnings for body horror and self harm.

Barry shifted a little in bed, his hand moving up Iris's waist. 

He could feel her breathing under his hand. Still there, still with him, no matter what Savitar...

"You okay, Bar?" she murmured.

"Yeah. And you?"

"Mmm-hmm."

Iris moved a little, curling more of the blankets around her shoulders.

She was safe. 

Barry fell asleep. 

Soon afterwards, he dreamed. 

There was a place with long red velvet drapes reaching down to the floor, which was covered with tiles in a black and white zigzag pattern. A white chandelier lit up the whole room, but it flickered on and off with a fizzing sound every few seconds, like a fly zapper light.

The rest of the room was empty. 

Barry then noticed that he was wearing his Flash suit, with the head part pushed down. He hesitated - what if he wanted to hide his identity? - then left it as it was.

Part of the red drapes at one corner were moving, as if they had a breeze behind them. Barry walked towards them, pushing them aside. 

There was what seemed to be a hallway, surrounded by more of the red curtains. A statue of the Venus de Milo sat at one end. Barry glanced at it before moving into another room. 

There was a man seated in a red armchair. He had dark hair slicked back, and wore a black business suit while holding a white mug. 

He ignored Barry while sipping at his cup, and then made a face. 

"Frozen. Again." He tipped the mug over; the coffee was frozen solid.

There was a faint sound of backwards laughter in the air.

Barry walked into the hallway again, and moved into another room. 

Or maybe it was the same one?

Zoom was sitting there in the armchair, smiling at him from behind his mask. Blue lightning sparked on his hands as he moved them - slowly, to  
Barry's eyes, but at speed to anyone else. He made shapes with his clawed gloves, the speed force lightning following as he did. 

" _ **Sit down**_." The words were distorted even further, making them very hard to listen to. But somehow Barry understood. 

There was another, matching armchair next to Zoom's. Barry moved towards it slowly, watching the shapes Hunter was making. 

"Is that Sign Language?," he asked Zoom. 

" _ **Yes**_."

Barry sat in silence, watching Zoom sign. Every so often he drew a finger across the forehead, then there was what looked like finger spelling. He didn't understand a word. 

"Why?" he asked.

" _ **Why not?**_ "

After what felt like several minutes, Barry got up and moved on. 

The hallway again, this time without the statue, and then another room.

Eobard Thawne was standing there. Not as a blond man, as Barry had also seen him, but as the man he had pretended to be for fifteen years. Harrison Wells.

_Sit down,_ " he said in a distorted voice, filtered to be _backwards_ somehow. 

Barry walked towards the inevitable. He sat down in the only armchair in the room. 

Eobard laughed. " _So pliant_."

He continued to laugh. 

Eobard then moved towards Barry at speed, placing his hands on each of the arm rests and bending down towards Barry, red eyes fixed on him.  
He was now smirking. 

Barry glared back. 

They froze like this; Barry found himself unable to move, and from the expression in Eobard's now blue eyes, he was feeling the same.

Time paused. A fan appeared from somewhere, and blew cool air onto both of them. 

Time unfroze, and Eobard moved away from Barry. He zipped off out of the room. 

Barry followed at speed, moving through curtains and causing them to flap up behind him.

After a while, he lost track of Eobard, and stopped to see where he was.

Another room, this one with a brazier in the middle, and a couple of armchairs. 

His mom was there. She was wearing a long white dress, and had a green signet ring on her right hand. 

She was smiling at him while bending her left fingers backwards with her right hand, slowly breaking each one. The little and ring fingers were already bent at unnatural angles along the upper joint; she was now working on the middle finger, pushing it backwards as far as it would go. 

"Why are you doing that?" Barry asked. 

" _Because I have to_." There was a snapping sound as her middle finger broke. 

The flame in the brazier gurgled. 

"Who told you to do that?" Barry tried again. 

His mom looked at him. There was not a trace of pain in her face. 

With her still working left fingers, she slid off the green ring and tossed it towards him. 

Barry woke up.

He glanced to his side - the sun was rising, Iris had gotten up from the bed. There were the sounds of breakfast cooking from the kitchen. 

_That was a horrible dream_ , he thought. He shuddered slightly as he sat up. 

There was a feeling of something heavy in the blankets. Barry picked it up. 

It was the green signet ring. Up close, he could see a geometric pattern of triangles on the gem. 

Impelled by something, he slid it on his right ring finger. It fit perfectly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Zoom is signing the ASL for 'black cabin'.
> 
> Kindly betaed by Sanguinity. 
> 
> Thank you for reading. 
> 
> Follow me at fastestcatalive.tumblr.com.


	2. Chapter 2

Iris walked into the room, smiling at Barry. "Hey, did you sleep okay? You were turning over a lot, I almost woke you up early."

Barry smiled at her, but it was without his usual warmth. "I'm fine, thanks."

Iris glanced at his hand. "Where did you get that ring? I don't remember seeing you wearing it before."

Barry shrugged. "Just...picked it up, I guess."

"I didn't know you liked wearing jewellery? I never saw you wear any, not since that time in tenth grade when you dressed up as Mr. T for Halloween." 

Barry cracked a slight, real smile. "Yeah, that wasn't the best choice of costumes. But I saw this ring, and liked it." 

Iris frowned to herself - she was sure he hadn't been wearing it last night. But how could a ring appear out of nowhere? Aha, that must be it.

"Oh, did you run off to get it? Anyway, breakfast is getting cold - don't forget, it's your turn to cook it tomorrow!"

Barry got up, speeding through his morning routine as usual, and went to the kitchen.

They had their eggs and bacon in relative silence. Then Iris packed up her red handbag before driving off to work, and Barry sped to the police station. 

When he arrived at his lab, something looked strange. 

Julian was busy working, and glanced up to greet Barry with a curt "Hello." 

But behind him, against the brick wall... 

"Don't you see that?" Barry said. 

Julian glanced at the wall, and looked back, puzzled. "It's just a brick wall, Barry. What do you see?"

"A...long red velvet curtain. It's moving a little."

"...Perhaps you'd better sit down, Barry."

Barry sat on his chair, still watching the curtain. It seemed to move beyond the boundaries of the lab, in both directions. He fiddled with his ring. 

"But, just in case..." Julian went up to the wall, poking at it at various points; Barry watched his hand disappear between the folds. 

There was silence. 

Julian moved his hand back towards his body. "Mate, all I can feel is the wall."

Barry got up and walked towards the curtains. He went towards the middle, and pushed his right hand through. 

He felt a chilly atmosphere on his hand, and then someone grabbing it. Their touch was wispy and frozen. 

Barry moved his arm out at speed. 

Julian was staring at him in shock. "Did you just...put your arm through the wall? Without vibrating it? And what on Earth..."

Barry looked down at his hand. It looked as if he had been hit by Captain Cold's gun; the fingers were frozen black, and thick rivers of black ran up his hand to his wrist. 

The ring glittered on his finger, small crystallized lumps of ice attached to its surface. 

Barry vibrated his arm to warm it up, still looking at the curtains. 

Julian was recovering. "I think we should call the others, get them to have a look at this...portal or whatever it is." 

Barry opened his mouth to agree, but found himself saying, "No, I can just get my suit in a second and go inside to-"

"GO INSIDE? Are you mental, Barry? Something in there almost froze your arm off."

"I need to go! You don't understand."

"And you behaving like a sulky teenager is supposed to make me agree with you?" He pulled out his cell phone. "This is really reckless, Barry. I'm calling Cisco."

Barry frowned as Julian pressed his touch screen. 

He ran off, causing papers to go flying. 

A few seconds later, he had picked up his suit from STAR Labs and put it on. Barry then ran back to his office, dodging past some cars in a pileup and little kids with their cat stuck up a tree. 

He came in at speed, seeing the whole place as if frozen in time. Julian was looking at the wall again. As did Barry. 

The red curtains had gone. Surprised, Barry carefully looked at what was now just a brick wall, but saw nothing that hinted at what he had been through. 

He moved back into normal time, brushing the cowl from his face as he did. What to do now? 

Julian noticed him, opening his mouth to say something, just as Cisco appeared through one of his portals.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Betaed by Sanguinity. Thank you for reading.


	3. Chapter 3

"So, what's this about?" Cisco asked, sliding his goggles off his eyes.

At the same time, Julian was saying, "Don't go through there, Barry."

The two men looked at each other. 

Barry raised his hands in defeat. "There's nothing there now. To be honest, I'm not sure why I wanted to go through again? I just had this really intense feeling that I _should_."

"Wait, you already went through ...something?" Cisco said. 

"There was a portal of some sort - he put his hand through, and it was covered with frostbite." Julian added. 

Cisco frowned. "I can run some tests on the wall, maybe see why it turned into a portal." He slid his goggles onto his eyes again. "There's definitely _something_ there, but it's not from a dimension I'm familiar with. Hmm." 

He looked carefully at the wall, while adjusting something on his goggles. "Very mysterious."

"What is it?" Julian asked. 

"You said something attacked you, Barry? Because I can see Time Wraiths."

***

Later, when Cisco, Julian, Caitlin and Barry were in the STAR Labs cortex, Cisco went over what he had seen.

"The Time Wraiths we saw didn't have freezing powers, did they?" Barry shivered a little. 

"No, they didn't," Caitlin agreed, her power repressing pendant shining away.

She then asked, "So Barry, what was this feeling you mentioned? A compulsion, or...?"

"I dunno," Barry shrugged. "Just this...really strong feeling that I should go in."

"That's never a good sign," Wally said, shaking his head. 

Caitlin pressed her lips together. "I should run some tests, see if you're being influenced by something."

Barry looked a bit nervous. "I, uh, have some work I should do back at the lab, so maybe later?"

"I can cover for you, that's not a problem," Julian said. 

"Then, uhh..." Barry slowly edged towards the door. 

Just as he made a run for it, Wally sped over and knocked him down. The surprise kept Barry on the floor until Wally had him in a full body hold. 

Cisco quickly dug out his anti metahuman restraints. 

Barry started to fight back, clearly trying to vibrate through Wally, but Cisco arrived with the restraints just in time. 

Soon Barry was propped up on Caitlin's hospital bed, Wally holding him down on one side and Cisco on the other as Caitlin managed to attach some sensors to Barry's shaking head. 

"Calm down - all I'm doing is measuring your brainwaves, seeing what's causing you to react that way!"

She finally affixed the last one and looked at her machines, beeping away. 

"Definitely something strange here - it doesn't match my last scans." 

Barry then managed to rip off some of the sensors on his right side, causing loud beeps to come out from the machinery. 

"Oh, never mind, I have the readings I needed." Caitlin said as Cisco attempted to put them back on. 

Caitlin then took out a sedative and injected it into Barry, who sank into stillness. 

"Because of his increased metabolism, he'll only be out for a few minutes. But it'll be enough for us to decide what to do next. Cisco?"

Cisco hesitated. "Pipeline, maybe? Just while he's a danger to himself.

They all looked at Julian, standing back and out of the way. 

"I-I don't feel like I should have a say here - I've only know you lot for a little while."

Caitlin said, "I agree, the Pipeline. Just for a little while." 

Wally paused, and nodded reluctantly. 

"Pipeline it is, then," Wally said, as Caitlin removed the last few sensors from Barry's head. Wally then lifted him up and sped to the Pipeline, carefully depositing him in the nearest cell.

Wally ran back. "He'll be fine in there."

Meanwhile, Caitlin looked at Barry's brain scans again, comparing them to older ones. 

"There's definitely a difference in the results," she said. "I'd say he was being influenced by something, but I'm not sure what."

"We have to find that something, then." Wally said. 

A noise came from the security camera screens, and they moved from the medical wing to the desks. Cisco put the video feed up on the main screen. 

"Guys, you can let me out now, I'm fine," Barry said to the camera.

"Cisco? Caitlin?...Julian! Can you hear me? I'd like to be let out now!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Betaed by Sanguinity. Thank you for reading - constructive criticism is welcome!


	4. Chapter 4

After a few minutes of yelling at the camera, Barry gave up and sank to the cell floor, his head resting against the wall.

It was quiet in there - all he could hear was the faint whirring of the air conditioner. Something about the cool air soothed his grumpiness at being locked up yet again. 

He dozed off, still feeling restless.

Something felt different. There was a faint buzzing sound that Barry wasn't familiar with. 

The red curtains were there, hanging over part of his cell. His shoes were covered by them.

He experimentally moved a leg, and the curtains jerked around him, pulling him in. 

Barry collapsed onto the black and white floor, which was slowly moving somewhere in a zigzag way. He stood up and looked around him.

The walls seemed to be nothing but curtains, with no ceiling in sight. He wondered if he could run up them, and see what was at the top. 

If anything at all. 

He passed through another set of curtains, and there was Eobard, standing there. The one he had hero-worshiped, then known and respected for  
a few months, before working out who he really was. 

"Not you again," Barry said, as the floor underneath him came to a stop. 

Eobard grinned. " _They have you_ ," he said in a backwards way. 

"What?"

" _They have you_ ," he said again.

Barry stared at him, uncomprehending. 

" _They'll get you in the end. And him too._ "

"Who's 'they'? And him - do you mean Savitar?"

Eobard laughed. " _Those in charge, of course._."

Barry considered attacking him again, but with some effort he shook his head and moved on. 

" _I have the knife_ ," Eobard said from behind him. 

Barry half turned around from the curtain he was just shifting. "The one you killed her with?"

Eobard was holding it - an ordinary looking kitchen knife, stained red. 

" _Yes_." His eyes flashed red. 

Barry moved towards him at speed and made to disarm him.

Eobard simply stepped to the side and moved his knife towards Barry's neck. 

" _I wish I could kill you. But it's not my place._ "

Barry stood there, the bloody knife slowly moving away from his neck. "What do you know about Savitar?" 

Eobard laughed. 

Barry walked away from Eobard, who was still holding the knife and cackling. 

The next few rooms were empty. 

Then he came across one with a man sitting in a armchair. 

"I know you from somewhere." 

" _Earth Two_ ," the man replied in backwards. 

"Sand Demon!"

Edward Slick looked at him, his arms beginning to slowly turn from flesh to sand. 

Barry waited for him to say something. 

" _You keep me here._ "

"I do?"

" _I shouldn't be here. Should be home._ "

Barry folded his arms. "You were a criminal who threatened to kill me and-"

" _I know._ " Slick's arms began to turn into flesh once more. 

" _Killing me keeps me here. Not in Earth Two. Here._ "

Slick then shook his head. " _The man with a fake face is coming. Go._ "

Barry ran. 

Soon, he was in a room where he could see the empty Pipeline cell once again.

He slowed down, walked into it, and fell. 

Barry glanced around - now there were no curtains visible any more, no signs of that strange place. 

A few moments after, someone opened the doors dividing his cell from the rest of STAR.

Iris was standing there against the glass panel, looking at him with a confused expression. 

"Why did you fight them, Barry? What happened to you?"

"Iris! I was just out of the cell again. That place I dreamed of..."

"What place, Barry?" Iris knelt down to be at Barry's level. 

"It has curtains and no walls. There are people there... you know them. Zoom, Sand Demon."

Iris said, "But I thought Zoom had turned into the Black Flash - we saw it happen! And Sand Demon..." 

He began to get up. "I need to go back." 

"Why, Barry? What is it that's there?" 

"Wells. Eobard. He knows something about Savitar."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kindly betaed by Sanguinity.


End file.
